Central Florida's Independent Jewish Voice
Central Florida's Independent Jewish Voice
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(JNS)- It wasn't lost on Ofir Sofer, the Israeli aliyah and integration minister, how unusual it was for someone of his prominence to fly to another country solely to board a charter return flight full of new immigrants. "Flights like this-a big group of olim that come in one day to Israel is a strong message that is conveyed to our people that is not just happening today. It's happened since Oct. 7," Sofer told JNS aboard the first Nefesh B'Nefesh charter flight since the terrorist attacks in...
When Vanessa Lozada, membership/program director at the Florida Press Association, came by the office to drop off the awards we received from the FPA Newspaper contest, there were four wins - not three - as we originally thought. So there are three First-Place trophies along with the Second-Place win by Stan Roberts. "What?" I thought out loud. I knew about the two first places - Ed Borowsky and Marilyn Shapiro. But there was a second trophy for Marilyn Shapiro in the Sports Feature division. "W...
The Library of Congress has awarded Geraldine Brooks, a Jewish author whose best-selling novels are often inspired by Jewish history, its prestigious 2025 Prize for American Fiction. Brooks, a former foreign correspondent for the Wall Street Journal, won the Pulitzer Prize for fiction for her novel "March," which reimagines "Little Women" from the father's perspective, in 2006. Her bestselling novels also often focus on aspects of Jewish history, including "People of the Book," which chronicles...
(JNS) - The largest dam in ancient Israel, uncovered just outside the walled Old City of Jerusalem, has been dated back to the time of the biblical kings, some 2,800 years ago, the Israel Antiquities Authority announced on Monday. The monumental dam, which runs about 12 meters high, more than 8 meters wide and 21 meters long, was excavated over the last two years in the history-rich ancient City of David. A new study carried out jointly with the Weizmann Institute of Science concludes that the...
On Aug. 24, the Temple Israel Sisterhood gathered for a wonderful "Welcome Back Brunch." It was a beautiful way to kick off a new season of friendship and fun. Held in a welcoming setting, the event featured delicious food from Sage Catering, joyful reunions, and an inspiring guest speaker from Safehouse of Seminole, a local shelter supporting women and children escaping domestic violence. The speaker shared powerful stories about the impact of Safehouse's work, reminding us all why our support...
As a caregiver, one of the most stressful things you may experience is the hospitalization of your loved one, especially if the hospitalization is in an intensive care unit. Here are some tips to consider when navigating this difficult situation: • Be prepared. Keep a list of your loved one’s medications and allergies handy at all times. Include the name of the medication, the dosage, the number of doses taken daily and the times at which they are taken. Make multiple copies on a copy machine or your computer. That way you can give a copy to...
Jewish Pavilion Senior Services is thrilled to invite Maitland Chamber of Commerce members and friends to a festive pre-Rosh Hashanah Breakfast on Thursday, Sept. 11, 8:30 a.m., at New Hope for Kids, 544 Mayo Ave., Maitland. Whether you’re familiar with the Jewish New Year or this is your first time learning about it, this event is designed to be welcoming, engaging, and deliciously memorable. While Rosh Hashanah begins at sundown on September 22, we’re starting the celebration early with a breakfast experience you won’t want to miss. What...
pots of Light: To be a Woman in the Holocaust is a special exhibit at the Center that is running from Sept. 3 through Dec. 19. Produced by Yad Vashem, Spots of Light shares the unique voices of Jewish women in the Holocaust, highlighting their choices, resilience and struggles amid brutality and hardship. Through poignant personal stories, the exhibition illuminates nine aspects of Jewish women’s daily lives during the Holocaust....
(JNS) — Jerusalem’s mass recognition of new Jewish communities in Judea and Samaria “is not the end — it’s the beginning,” Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu promised local leaders on Tuesday evening. “I promised 25 years ago that we would deepen our roots, and we did, together,” said Netanyahu, who was speaking at an event organized by the Binyamin Regional Council in Samaria’s south. “I said that we would prevent the establishment of a Palestinian state, and we are doing it, together. I said that we would build and hold on to parts of...
(JNS) — The Israel Defense Forces on Aug. 10 eliminated Hamas terrorist Jihad Kamal Salem Najjar, who took part in the abduction of Yarden Bibas from Kibbutz Nir Oz during the Oct. 7, 2023, massacre, the military announced on Tuesday. Bibas was held in captivity for 484 days before being freed on Feb. 1, having lost 33 pounds. His wife, Shiri, and their two sons — Ariel, 4, and Kfir, 9 months — were kidnapped separately. Their captors later murdered Shiri and the children, afterward claiming they had been killed in an Israeli airstrike. On Fe...
Washington, D.C. — The Coalition for a Safer Web has identified a wave of pro-Palestinian and pro-Hamas protests being coordinated through both open and encrypted social media platforms, with events planned in major U.S. cities in the coming weeks. According to CSW, several of the groups behind the protests also organized antisemitic encampments and demonstrations on college campuses and in U.S. cities after the Oct. 7, 2023, Hamas-led attacks on Israel. Among them, the Democratic Socialists of America, the China-backed Party for Socialism a...
(JNS) — Robin Westman, who died of a self-inflicted gunshot after killing two children at Annunciation Catholic School in Minneapolis, Minn., wrote of murdering “filthy Zionist Jews,” that “six million wasn’t enough” and “free Palestine,” the New York Post reported on Wednesday. The Post said that it translated writings in the Cyrillic alphabet by the shooter, 32, who was transgender. “If I will carry out a racially motivated attack, it would be most likely against filthy Zionist jews [sic],” the shooter reportedly wrote in a journal that the...
(JNS) — You can see it in online exchanges and hear it in casual conversations. The accumulated weight of nearly two years of media stories claiming that Israel is committing war crimes in Gaza, murdering journalists to cover up those misdeeds, deliberately starving its residents and thus responsible for “genocide” has had an impact on public opinion across the globe, as well as in the United States. This has created a growing consensus about the war that ensued after the Hamas-led Palestinian Arab attacks on Israeli communities that took...
(JNS) — Low voter turnout in local primary and general elections has allowed a determined and militant group of outsiders to infiltrate and effectively the takeover the Democratic Party’s political machinery in certain cities. The most striking recent example is in New York City, where state assemblyman Zohran Mamdani, endorsed by the Democratic Socialists of America, won the Democratic Party mayoral primary, with fewer than 470,000 first-round votes out of the slightly more than 1.07 million votes cast. To put this in perspective, more tha...
The outpouring of thousands of Israelis into the streets of Israeli towns and cities, demanding that the Israeli government make a deal with the butchers of Hamas for the remaining hostages, no matter what the cost to Israel, is not in Israel’s best interest. These demonstrations against the government were the result of incitement by many of the hostage families critical of the government and Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu for failing to bring the remaining hostages home. Despite the severe pressure exerted by the former Biden a...
(JNS) — Israel drew a firestorm of international criticism recently when it announced its plan to defeat Hamas once and for all by taking full control of the Gaza Strip. While Hamas’s command and control has been devastated, it is still a deadly enemy that refuses to surrender or release the estimated 50 hostages it holds captive, and it remains deeply embedded within Gazan society. French President Emmanuel Macron described Israel’s latest plan to achieve victory over Hamas as “a disaster of unprecedented gravity waiting to happen.” Likewise,...
(JNS) — U.N. members held a conference last month to discuss the “Peaceful Settlement of the Question of Palestine and the Implementation of the Two-State Solution.” It was spearheaded by France and Saudi Arabia and sought to define the conditions that the Palestinian state must meet to be recognized. Regardless, French President Emmanuel Macron said that he will recognize a Palestinian state in September. Among those countries participating in the conference for statehood were Great Britain, Canada, Norway, Qatar, Spain and Turkey. Yet decla...
(JNS) — When Israeli Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich recently approved some 3,400 new housing units in Area E1, global condemnation was swift. Kaja Kallas, the foreign-policy chief for the European Union, denounced the move as “illegal under international law” and a mortal threat to the “viability of a future Palestinian state.” But there’s a glaring omission in this outrage: For years, the European Union has sponsored Palestinian construction across Area C, including E1 itself, without permits and in direct violation of the framework of the...
MORNING MINYANS Chabad of South Orlando — Monday - Friday, 8 a.m. and 10 minutes before sunset; Saturday, 9:30 a.m.; Sunday, 8:15 a.m., 407-354-3660. Congregation Ahavas Yisrael — Monday - Friday, 7:30 a.m.; Saturday, 9:30 a.m.; Sunday, 9 a.m., 407-644-2500. Congregation Chabad Lubavitch of Greater Daytona — Monday, 8 a.m.; Thursday, 8 a.m., 904-672-9300. Congregation Ohev Shalom — Sunday, 9 a.m., 407-298-4650. GOBOR Community Minyan at Jewish Academy of Orlando — Monday – Friday, 7:45 a.m. – 8:30 a.m. Temple Israel — Sunday, 9 a.m., 407-647-3...
(JNS) — When the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform announced that it is investigating manipulation of information on Wikipedia, Larry Sanger, co-founder of the encyclopedia, welcomed the news. “I am glad that Congress is investigating the use of foreign and U.S. government funds to pay for biased editing on Wikipedia,” Sanger, who has criticized Wikipedia frequently in recent years, told JNS. Sanger told JNS that he asked U.S. President Donald Trump and billionaire entrepreneur Elon Musk, who led the U.S. Department of Gover...
O mermaid bold, long may you hold the wreath you've won by swimming, And spoil for gents their arguments Regarding Votes for Wimmen! - "To a Lady Swimmer," William F. Kirk 1914. I love to swim. So, it is no surprise that I spent much of the first week of the 2024 Paris Olympics watching the swim competition. I cheered on Team USA as they won 25 medals in the 39 events in the Paris La Défense Arena. As I yelled "Go! Go! Go!" at the screen during the 1500 freestyle, Katie Ledecky's last race, my...
(Israel Hayom via JNS) - Ari Varon, president of the Israel Association of Baseball, believes children currently playing locally will represent Israel at the 2028 Los Angeles Olympic Games, as he spearheads an ambitious transformation of the sport from its American immigrant roots into a distinctly Israeli athletic culture. Varon entered his role with passionate determination to expand the sport's reach beyond its traditional base among North American immigrants. A Tel Aviv resident, married...
(JNS) - The train from Jerusalem to Herzliya hums steadily along the tracks. It's full, as usual, for this time of day in the middle of the week. Voices mingle with the whir of the wheels. A mixture of languages - Hebrew, English, Russian - meld with universal sighs of weary commuters wishing to reach their destination before sundown. Suddenly, a minyan (public prayer quorum) of 10 men rises, almost simultaneously. One stands, calling out the afternoon prayer, his Yemenite accent ringing clear...
(JNS) - One of Israel's rarest plants - the spear-leaved dogbane - is currently blooming in the Jerusalem Botanical Gardens after its extinction from the Negev Desert. The species, which now survives only in isolated areas along the Carmel coast and in the Acre Valley, was once far more widespread, including in En Avdat National Park in the Negev. The plants currently blooming in the Botanical Gardens originate from specimens collected decades ago at En Avdat by Atai Yoffe, director of the...
